A fellow trader recently
quizzed a line he overheard me tell a customer – “Sorry, we show our discount price
up front. We don’t discount further.” I had to admit that this statement doesn’t
apply to every customer. It depends on whether I perceive the customer as cheap,
or just looking after their pennies.
A “cheap” customer will
always attempt to bargain you down, no matter how good the deal is. Often they
will attempt to bully you into a price reduction and you need to be strong
particularly if you are convinced of the value of the deal. An appropriate line
for these customers might be – “That is the lowest price for one item but if
you want to buy a quantity, I may be able to save you an extra dollar or two.”
A budget conscious customer
may simply have spending priorities and they are looking for value in the
purchase. Discussion with them may involve assessing their needs and looking
for alternatives. If the item(s) doesn’t meet their needs then maybe there is
another item that will. If the price of the selected item is too high then
maybe two cheaper items will do the job, particularly if they are gift buying.
There are many alternatives before settling on a price discount.
The "cheap" customers are easy to pick because the price will come into the discussion early on. Customers looking for value are more likely to consider a number of aspects of the purchase before querying the price. Just remember that the
internet makes it easy for customers to price check before they come to your
stall. Playing it hard only works if you are truly competitive.